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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §46.3.88.pr

Release of Bankers Paying Sale Proceeds to Mother

Passage 7743 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The text discusses a case where a mother managed the affairs of her daughter (an heir to an intestate father) and sold property through bankers, examining whether the bankers were legally released by paying the proceeds to the mother and the conditions of good faith required for such release.

[SCAEUOLA libro quinto digestorum. ] §46.3.88.prFiliae intestato patri heredis negotia mater gessit et res uendendas per argentarios dedit idque ipsum codice conscriptum est: argentarii uniuersum redactum uenditionis soluerunt et post solutionem nouem fere annis, quidquid agendum erat, nomine pupillae mater egit eamque marito nuptum collocauit et res ei tradidit.
[SCAEVOLA, in the fifth book of the Digests.] A mother managed the affairs of her daughter, who was the heir of her intestate father, and delivered property to be sold through bankers, and this very transaction was recorded in the ledger. The bankers paid the entire proceeds of the sale, and for about nine years after the payment, the mother did whatever had to be done in the name of the ward, and gave her in marriage to a husband and delivered the property to him.
quaesitum est, an puella cum argentariis aliquam actionem habet, quando non ipsa stipulata sit pretium rerum, quae in uenditionem datae sunt, sed mater.
The question was asked whether the girl has any action against the bankers, since she herself did not stipulate the price of the things which were given for sale, but her mother did.
respondit, si de eo quaereretur, an iure ea solutione argentarii liberati essent, responderi iure liberatos.
He answered that, if the question were whether the bankers were legally released by that payment, the answer is that they were legally released.
CLAUDIUS: subest enim illa ex iurisdictione pendens quaestio, an pretia rerum, quae sciebant esse pupillae, bona fide soluisse uideantur matri, quae ius administrationis non habebat: ideoque si hoc sciebant, non liberantur, scilicet si mater soluendo non sit.
CLAUDIUS: For there underlies that question depending on judicial discretion, whether they are deemed to have paid in good faith to the mother, who did not have the right of administration, the prices of things which they knew belonged to the ward; and therefore, if they knew this, they are not released, namely, if the mother is not solvent.

Notes

  1. §46.3.88.prFiliae intestato patri heredis — filiae (of the daughter) and heredis (of the heir) are in apposition, functioning as genitives modifying negotia (affairs). Meanwhile, intestato patri (to the intestate father) is a dative depending on the noun heres (heir to a father). This word order structures the meaning 'of the daughter who was the heir to her intestate father'.
  2. §46.3.88.prresponderi iure liberatos — responderi is a present passive infinitive used impersonally, forming an indirect discourse dependent on the main verb respondit. It translates as 'that the answer should be [that they were legally released]'.
  3. §46.3.88.prex iurisdictione pendens — Literally 'hanging or depending on jurisdiction (iurisdictio)'. In Roman law, iurisdictio refers to the judicial power of the magistrate (praetor) to grant actions. It implies that the question is one that depends on judicial discretion or the administration of justice.
  4. §46.3.88.prsoluendo non sit — soluendo esse is an idiomatic expression using the dative of the gerundive, meaning 'to be solvent'. Here, combined with the subjunctive sit and negated, it expresses the condition 'if the mother is not solvent'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §46.3.88.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:46.3.88.pr

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